Outsole unit



Patented Aug. 10, I937 @EJTSOILE Wm He. Rain, e i

ton, Me

Application renew 2c, 1936, Serial No. 65,833

1 Claim. (or. 36-25) tionn Accordingly, the time of the most highly paid and skillful operators employed in the whole system of manufacture has been consumed in fitting and assembling the pad and other loose pieces and the bottoming operation has been correspondingly complicated on this account. I have discovered, however, that it is practicable as a matter of stockfitting to prepare for the shoemaker an outsole unit comprising a full leather outsole having a sponge rubber pad permanently assembled thereto, located accurately, and reliably secured in place within a marginal frame or sole section which is to all practical purposes a permanent part of the 'sole and may be subsequently trimmed in finishing the edge of the sole.

The shoemaker isthus enabled to proceed withv the bottoming operation using the novel outsole unit of my invention with no more trouble or elaboration than if he were dealing with an ordinary commercial outsole. Moreover, the resulting shoe, because of the employment of such outsole unit, is more accurately made and has better wearing qualities than shoes in which the elements of the cushion sole are thrown together for the first time in the making room.

This will be more clear and further features I the section 22. It will be seen in both cases that better understood and appreciated from the following description of two preferred embodiments thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of an outsole unit in process of construction and having a marginal frame secured to its flesh face,

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the sponge rubber pad which is subsequently incorporated into the unit, 1

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the complete unit, and r Fig. 4 is a similar view of an altemative embodiment thereof. r1

The basis of the novel unit of my invention is a full length solid leather sole III which may be died out or otherwise cut to pattern and evened in accordance with commercial practice. A

marginal strip ii is then securedto the flesh side of the sole blank about the forepart thereof, with its margin substantially coinciding with the contour of the sole. The rear ends of the marginal strip ii are bevelled rearwardly to a feather located approximately at the ball line of the sole. The strip it may be secured in place by any convenient means as by cement, and preferably with its grain, surface or finished face uppermost. A sponge rubber pad is slightly thicker than the marginal strip ii is next cut accurately to fit within the contour of the marginal strip and permanently secured in place therein by cementing to the surface of the sole blank it. The unit is then completed by bevelling the outer margin of the pad it bringing its outer edge substantially flush with the face of the marginal strip ii. At the same time the rear edge of the pad i3 is bevelled substantially in line with the bevelled ends 112 of the marginal strip.

The unit of my invention is shown in alternative form in Fig. 4 wherethe sole blank it is shown as provided with a leather sole section 22 which is permanently secured to the flesh side of the forepart of the shoe and corresponds in contour therewith. The section 22 is secured to the sole blank with its grain side uppermost and is bevelled at its rear edge to form a feather 23 located substantially at the ball line of the sole. The section 22 is cut out or apertured so. that it forms in efiect an open continuous frame upon the forepart of the sole. The center of the frame, as before, is filled with a sponge rubber pad 26' which is secured permanently to the inner or flesh surface of the sole and accurately bounded at its margin by the inner edge of the opening in the rubber pad is permanently incorporated in the sole unit and thatits marginal edge is confined by an enclosing leather member which is, to all intents, an integral part of the sole and which may be trimmed and otherwise treated as a p rt thereof in the shoemaking operations to which the" sole must be subjected. The unit is therefore adapted for use in the manufacture of Compo or McKay shoes, particularly shoes made by the so-called Littleway process. Accordingly the outer or grain side of the sole may be provided with a channel 2| as shown in Fig. 4 or otherwise treated in accordance with the processes to which it is to be subjected. It will be noted however, that since the marginal strip I l and the sole section 22 are applied with the grain side uppermost, the operation of finishing the upper Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters 15 Patent of the United States, is,

An outsole unit for use in shoemaking, comprising a full length solid outsole having a flat marginal strip secured to its flesh side and presenting a grain surface uppermost where it will be exposed adjacent to the upper, said strip tapering rearwardly to a feather on both sides of the sole rearwardly of the ball line, and a sponge rubber pad having a body of greater thickness than said strip and being secured to the forepart of the sole within the contour of the strip and presenting a bevelled marginal surface flush with the face of the strip.

WILLIAM HENRY BAIN. 

